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Another child of the "fabulous fifties" was the big-bad A3D Skywarrior, affectionately know as "Whale" or "Killer Whale". It was not the most glamorous, but became arguably the most utilitarian carrier-based aircraft to come out of the 50's. With Hughes Aircraft's current stables of twelve whales, it will certainly outlive the few QF-4 drones still flying. As a test aircraft, size and speed as well as ease of maintenance have kept the Skywarrior in demand.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

This book by Bruce Cunningham covers the initial design, structures and testing of the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior. Very detailed information of the initial requirements, first flight, developement of the engines, test flights of the basic and versions. Goes on to describe all of the test squadrons, what they tested, problems found, resolutions, and etc. A lot of blue prints, early pictures and never released photos. If you are even remotely interested in aviation than you know the A-3 is the largest aircraft to operate off of carriers and they are still flying as testbed aircraft. 48 years after their first flight and still flying, this book will explain what it takes to build an aircraft that lasts. Also, you must own this book if you ever flew or worked on the Whale and want to pass on stories to others about those experiences.

The original book is out of print. The is an Amazon Print On Demand book. There is a considerable reduction in the quality. The photos, because of the almost newsprint type paper it is printed on suffer from lack of sharpness and contrast. It's so bad I thought originally it was a counterfeit issue when compared to the rest of my Ginter books. If you can find an original get it, this one will do but I'd rather have gotten the original book. It is a little shady of Amazon to not mention this in their description and charge the original published price.

The books published by Steve Gintner 's company are great resources for those interested in classic military airplanes, but especially to those who wish to accurately model such things. The A-3 Skywarrior was the first twin jet bomber to be employed regularly in squadron service from USN aircraft carriers from the mid -1950s until the late 70s, although not always as a bomber. A large aircraft, the A-3 soon picked up the nickname WHALE from her aircrew members. The Douglas built aircraft also saw service in a slightly modified version as the USAF B-66 medium bomber until the 1980s.Many can be seen in aviation museums today as static displays. This book is the first of at least two to cover the A-3, here in early use by the USN. The photo coverage and detail are fine, but only in black and white photos. Ales included are diagrams from many Douglas A-3 manuals showing details of the operating systems useful to the model builder. My book was purchased as " used, in very good condition" and it was certainly used and in what I would call "good" condition. Delivery was prompt ant the price was a great bargain. I would shop this vendor again.

Having served in the Navy, and loaded the A-3 with bombs, as well as restored one at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, the A-3 is a dynamic aircraft the served the Navy and the United States well for over 40 years. The book is a great reference book with history, development, and operational use by many Navy squadrons. Great book for handy references.

My late father-in-law flew on this plane. I bought this for my husband for Christmas, and he says it's a great book. Lots of wonderful pictures, diagrams and fully-detailed explanations, legends and definitions. This book series is really great. Lots of nostalgia in this book and others like it by the same authors.